I finally made the move to the bay area, and my first show in San Francisco was a little taste of the east coast. Nublu Records artist, Forro in the Dark, made the journey from NYC for the San Francisco Jazz Festival. The nights pairing of Forro and DJ Spooky at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, clearly aimed to add a contemporary/urban flavor to SFJazzs more traditional Jazz artist line-up.
Hailing from my favorite bar, Nublu, on New Yorks lower east side, Forro in the Dark formed spontaneously during an improptu jam session celebrating singer and zabumba player Mauro Refoscos birthday. Evidently, the ensuing bash was so much fun, that Forros Brasil Party became a weekly residency at the Nublu, which you can still catch from time to time. Forro owes their unique sound (and name) to forro, the traditional music and dance of rural northeastern Brazil. While the music is an absolute joy to listen to, I have found it quite hard to master the techniques of forro dancing. I cant get my butt to move that fast! But seriously, Forro packages the traditional sound in a modern version infused with everything from funk to reggae. Forros line-up retains two of the three traditional forro instruments, with Mauro on the zabumba, and Davi Vieira on triangle. However, theyve traded the accordian for Jorge Continentinos pifano and baritone sax, and Guilherme Monteiros guitar. Forros new 5-track EP Dia de Roda is loads of fun, but I recommend starting with their debut album Bonfires of Sao Joao which features David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto and Miho Hatori. (Miho and her rap duo Cibo Matto are, in my opinion, the greatest thing since sushi to come out of Japan Check out this Sci-Fi Wasabi video to see a dead-ringer for ICM crewmember Crash (without his lamb-chops) rockin the bass!)
The Yerba Buena Arts Center was a bit big for what I would consider a very intmate and personal live act, but the boys of Forro managed to get their fans warmed up and dancing in just a few songs. It wasnt late night at Nublu, but Ill take what I can get, until I can find my SF version of Nublu. I look forward to seeing where Forro takes their sound, and have it from a good source that fans will have more exciting collaborations to get excited for.
